FEATURE
Delivery – ( from left ) Bill Draper , general manager at ASCO , quayside operator at Steel River Quay , Peter Ivey , chief operating officer at SeAH Wind and Steel River Quay operations director Garry O ’ Malley with the first ship unloading steel for the giant
SeAH Wind factory at Teesworks .
ALL QUAYED UP
Progress ramps up across Teesworks site
Progress continues apace at the giant Teesworks development on the south bank of the River Tees , with major milestones racking up at the 2,500-acre site .
One key focus of activity in the past few months has been the newly built Steel River Quay .
The first 450m phase of the quay at South Bank was completed in April this year , the product of two years ’ work and 30,000 tonnes of concrete at a total cost of £ 114m .
Since then , not only has the Steel River Quay seen the first operational vessel dock , but also it has seen the arrival of the first vessel to supply raw materials for production trials to the giant SeAH Wind factory on the Teesworks site just to the south of the quay .
Early on a mid-September morning , the Leonardo da Vinci , a 171m-long cable-laying vessel operated by Prysmian , became the first operational vessel to dock at the Steel River Quay .
Reflecting the pride felt by the Teesworks team at the Leonardo da Vinci ’ s arrival , Teesworks CEO Martin Corney said : “ This is a huge milestone for the Teesworks site .
“ The Steel River Quay ’ s strategic location and direct access to the North Sea offers unparalleled connectivity for supporting offshore wind energy projects and ongoing developments at Teesworks .
“ Global companies have shown great enthusiasm since building work completed on our quay . Now operational , we will advance negotiations for additional projects .”
With its deep-water capabilities and substantial storage , the quay offers direct access for monopiles made at SeAH Wind to be shipped out to offshore wind farms in the North Sea .
The quay also enables components and raw materials to be shipped into SeAH ’ s plant and the wider Teesworks site for use in the manufacturing process .
This capability was shown to great effect when the first ship to supply raw materials for production trials to the SeAH factory arrived at the Steel River Quay
The Jalonborg , an 89m-long supply ship , arrived with a 2,578-tonne cargo of steel plates for the factory near the end of October .
Her cargo took a total of two and a half days to unload at the quay , from where it was transferred the short distance to the factory rapidly taking shape nearby .
Peter Ivey , chief operations officer at SeAH Wind , said : “ We are thrilled to enter the next phase with the arrival of 2,500 tonnes of raw material , which we witnessed being unloaded from the vessel here at Steel River Quay .
“ This marks the first significant material delivery , enabling pre-production trials to commence and reducing risk ahead of commercial launch in 2025 .”
Martin added : “ This is the perfect example of the importance of the Steel River Quay and its facilities to companies setting up their operations here .
“ The deep-water capabilities and substantial storage on offer mean that even the largest vessels are able to berth safely here , bringing in large quantities of components and raw materials and taking away finished products to destinations around the world .”
As well as excellent transport links , another vital component making Teesworks such an attractive destination for major companies in the renewable energy sector is the availability of
56 | Tees Business